In general, a silver halide color photographic material comprises silver halide emulsion layers sensitive to three primary colors, i.e., red, green and blue, respectively. In such a silver halide color photographic material, a color image is reproduced in the so-called subtractive process in which three couplers in these emulsion layers are developed to colors complementary to the corresponding colors to which these layers are sensitive. The color image obtained by the photographic processing of such a silver halide color photographic material normally comprises an azomethine dye or indoaniline dye produced by the reaction of an oxidation product of an aromatic primary amine color developing agent with a coupler.
In the silver halide color photographic material, a phenolic or naphtholic coupler is used to form a cyan dye image. However, since these couplers undesirablly exhibit absorption in the blue or green range, they have a great disadvantage in that they cause a remarkable drop in the color reproducibility.
As a means of solving this problem, European Patent 249,453A2 has proposed use of 2,4-diphenylimidazoles as couplers. Dyes produced from these couplers exhibit less undesirable absorption in the short wavelength range than the conventional dyes and thus are preferable in color reproduction.
However, these couplers, too, leave much to be desired in color reproducibility. These couplers also have practical problems in that they exhibit a low coupling activity and a remarkably low fastness to heat and light.
Further, pyrazoloazole cyan couplers as disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,873,183 exhibit less undesirable absorption in the short wavelength range than the conventional dyes but leave much to be desired in color development and color reproducibility as cyan couplers.
In the course of studies of eliminating the abovedescribed defects, it was found that when the color-forming ability of the couplers is improved, the unexposed portion tends to be cyan-colored (so-called "cyan stain") with a passage of time after development.
Further, these couplers leave much to be desired in the recent high requirements such as color development, color reproducibility and fastness.